TalkIT project

 

 

The seminar "TalkIT. Foreign Language as a Key to Success in Tourism Industry in Podlasie" took place on the 12th of September in Podlasie Business Club. During the seminar participants had an opportunity to hear presentations about good practice of the realized projects and about the possibilities of financing projects within European Lifelong Learning Programme and Operational Programme Civil Society 2007-2013.  

Gallery

 

Aims:

 

-         The project focuses on developing adequate language skills for individuals that operates small tourism enterprises by offering suitable language courses using open distance learning (ODL)

-         With the development of a language course that incorporate the needs of specific target group within the tourist industry and then using the pedagogical aspects and benefits of well organised ODL the project will promote life long learning for the target group as well as enhancing their competencies in operating their enterprises and improving their customer base

-         By adding training in languages the companies and individuals will increase their communication skills with the foreign tourists, which would be a way to increase their ability to attract customers, and service them in a suitable way, which would in turn increase their likelihood of success and furthermore work as a sustainability factor for the money spend by the EU

-         The project will make use of the innovative approach of content and language integrated learning (CLIL). This would mean that the language teachers and trainers will receive updated methodological and pedagogical skills in addressing specialized groups in vocational training

 

Projects’ stages:

 

-          Survey of language courses offered to the target group in other EU projects to form the basis of the design of a targeted course

-          Needs analysis in the partner countries. This will generate an insight to how the entrepreneurs would like to receive their training – information which will enable the project to incorporate these aspects and therefore increase the success rate of the project

-          The partners will design language courses that are suitable for the entrepreneurs needs in accordance with pedagogical aspects of CLIL and ODL.

-          Each partner will conduct a pilot phase. The partners will match the outcomes of the pilot tests with the draft models developed
in the previous development phases and will, if appropriate, revise those models accordingly

-          The materials will be designed as web-based materials for free download. Print versions for dissemination and presentation purposes will also be produced

 

Actions realised:

 

Until September 2006 three meetings of international partners has been held (Sweden, Spain. Italy). During meetings  international partners were discussing tasks for the forthcoming phases of the project and were sharing information about results of research conducted in their countries. The next meeting will take place in Poland (spring 2007) and aims at summing up the results of previous phases of the project. The part of the project which is devoted to methodological training of English language teachers will take place in December 2006. Pilot course phase will take place in January 2007 and will last for 4 weeks. Courses will be conducted in CLIL method. During the time of the project the website with documents and outcomes of each project’s phase is updated constantly and available at: http://www.talk-it.se. Seminar finishing the Talk-it project will take place in Cracow (Kraków) in September 2007. The Internet site will be available until 2009.